Errand Runners
by BOtaru14
Summary: An AU Shoone fic. The two find themselves becoming useful as sort of minor helpers for Jack, which leads to more adventures than these two ever had onscreen; danger and even romance. Before their eventual AU demises. T for language for now.
1. Chapter 1: Fanfreakingtastic

_The eventual demise (but first, romance!) of Boone and Shannon, in an alternate storyline. Boone and Shannon are the "adventure rescue team" of the castaways, sent to do menial tasks for people whenever they came about. However one day, the two find themselves getting caught up more and more into more serious issues, like encounters with the Others, forest fires, stumbling upon the Tailies, and tripping Rousseau's various traps. Through it all they reconcile and manage to form a relationship, all before they meet their ends from what started off as simple task work._

_In this AU, Boone does not form a bond with Locke and therefore does not die by internal injuries caused by the crash of the Beechcraft. Likewise, Shannon therefore does not become ridden and conflicted and crazed by grief, and does not follow any delusions of little boys into the jungle and getting shot by Ana Lucia._

_Note: Each chapter alternates narration between Shannon and Boone. Chapter 1 starts with Shannon - obviously - and then will go to Boone. Also, some random flashbacks pertaining to the plot may be thrown in as chapters every once in a while. They'll be in all italics so you can tell they're flashbacks, and the POV should be easy to tell. I'm doing my best to capture Boone and Shannon, as this is my first Shoone - _and _LOST fanfic - so bear with me! I hope you enjoy the story!_

"Vincent! Vincent!"

_Sigh._ I turned the page of the magazine I was reading.

"VINCENT!"

Slamming my eyes shut and biting down hard on my lips, I breathed in the fading perfume samples. Nope. Not working.

"VINCENNNT!"

That was it. I threw the magazine out of sight and got up from my cozy chair.

"If I help you find your damned dog, will you shut up, kid?" I seethed. I stared down the frustrating child - Walt - as my hair whipped my face just as angrily.

His weirdly overprotective father glared at me from a distance. He was building his stupid sailboat so he couldn't come over and yell at me for cursing at his kid. I smirked back at him.

Walt nodded, oblivious to my hostility.

_Ugh. Well here we go again._

"Okay, fine. Let's go," I marched over to the little boy and grabbed hold of his arm. Before I entered the jungle with a ten-year-old in tow, I gave once last glance over my shoulder. At my brother_-step-brother_, Boone.

He eyed me knowingly. He knew my pain.

Interrupting our eye contact was a new disaster happening down the beach. I couldn't tell what the hell was going on, but I heard a lot of men shouting and saw people running like bored idiots from their tents to crowd around whatever scene was going down. I silently cursed at myself for not being able to join those same bored idiots, I was one of them. Instead I was stuck with some mediocre task.

Boone rushed in to join the conflict. Lucky bastard. I frowned and turned around, as Walt was starting to lead _me _into the jungle by now.

Yay for another fan-freaking-tastic jungle adventure. Jesus, I'm starting to feel like Nancy Drew. Why did Boone have to drag me into this shit?


	2. Chapter 2: Not just another pretty boy

I watched, three feet from where Shannon was just sitting, as she accepted another little "mission", of sorts, from Walt. I stared amazedly at her, until I found myself staring into her eyes as she headed into the jungle. She looked at me almost pleadingly. I held in the strong urge to laugh my ass off at her misfortune, and managed to feel some sympathy for the brat as she was led off by a boy into a mysterious jungle; not led off by a guy like she was used to, unfortunately for her.

The sympathy dissolved though, for one of two reasons. Firstly, I remembered our encounter the night before boarding our plane. I remembered how viciously Shannon had exposed my love for her, took advantage of me and then forced me to again choke back down and detain once more all those feelings that were under the surface, kept away from her for so long. Secondly, another fight or something was breaking out on the shore, and that meant it was time for me to intervene.

Sure enough, one exasperated look at Jack proved me right. At the moment he'd been treating some chick for boar-related injuries - god I knew those well - and he just looked up at me, nodding carelessly in the direction of the fight.

He didn't have any power over me. Not really. I didn't _have_ to rush into matters for him. After all, who the hell was he to tell me what to do? Especially after acting like he knew more about water safety than I do.

But that's just it - I always felt the need to make myself look good in front and around him. I wouldn't let him degrade me, downsize me and reduce me to a fool. Not anymore. I already got it enough from that good ol' heart-breaking step-sis of mine. And this was just another one of many battles I've fought to get people to take me seriously. All people see is a dopey-looking pretty boy, not a fairly competent lifeguard and employee of the Martha Stewart of weddings. And Jack felt no differently about me.

So I just nodded at him and ran off down the beach, growing closer to the shouts and screams of probably Sawyer and some other idiot headstrong enough to get into it with him. It was probably going to be risky getting involved, but I had to.

After all, I had practically made an agreement to be useful.


	3. Chapter 3: Start of a non epic journey

_Jack knelt over me, just as sopping wet as I was. He pushed open my eyes one at a time, checking my pupils or something. The frustration I felt at not being able to save the woman, the humiliation I felt for being a lifeguard who almost drowned, melted with the resentment boiling in me at Jack. Jack. The frickin hero of everything. I'm surprised Shannon hasn't tried hitting on him yet. Oh wait, that's right. She isn't attracted to the kinds of guys that help people, and would take care of her. No, those guys she keeps reserved for emergencies, only dragged out and forced to do her bidding when needed._

_I slapped Jack's hand away and sat up. "Just stop already, I'm fine." I stared out at the ocean where just minutes ago a woman and I had been drowning. Only, one of us was still alive. I narrowed my eyes in anger, feeling Jack's pitying eyes boring into me._

_I eventually met them. They were definitely pitying. "I could have saved her. The riptide just pulled me under, it can get anyone. Even a lifeguard," I added._

_Jack nodded, but it wasn't convincing. "I know, I get that. And I'm not blaming you. I just," Jack looked at the ocean, avoiding my presence now. "I don't think you should get involved with situations like _that_ anymore."_

_"What the hell is that supposed to mean? 'Situations like _that_?'"_

_Jack sighed as he looked back at me again. "I know you just want to help. We all do. And you're of the few brave ones who actually _act _on that desire to keep everyone safe. But recently, your um... interventions in dangerous situations have only made things worse."_

_I lay back down on the blanket I was given to lay on for examination. "Forget bedside, your manners just reek..." I rolled my eyes at the trees above, arms folded behind my damp hair._

_Jack chuckled a little and nodded. "Yeah, well, not the best with tact, I know." He cleared his throat. "But Boone, even though there are _some _matters I'd rather you not get yourself involved in - for your safety, too - I think you still have potential. And I want you to still help people out. Just not... in major situations."_

_"Well then, how exactly should I help out?" I retaliated, the tone in my voice unmistakable._

_"If someone needs help getting something done. Building things, hunting boars. Maybe helping me take care of people-"_

_"LIke a nurse." I rolled my eyes again._

_"-but for the most part, get some things done when I can't. Can you do this for me? For everyone?" Jack probably added that last line just to appease me. By now he ought to know how much I loathe his feelings of self-importance and dominating leadership._

_Reluctantly I nodded. I didn't want to be Jack's errand boy, but if this could gain me back my dignity and get people here to take me seriously for once, then I was all in._

_5 hours later_

_That afternoon had passed slowly, but I finally found myself in the best time of day - evening. When I get to sit down with Shannon, eat, listen to her bitching and pretend to listen and maybe start a fight I don't want to, and just catch up with her. It was our only alone time. She spent a lot of time translating some old maps with Sayid, who was definitely more interested in his fellow translator than the work itself. And I wouldn't let _that _happen. _That.

_I grabbed us some mangoes and whatever scraps of boar I could find, put them on some leaves and brought them over to Shannon's tent. She was crouched outside of it, giving herself another pedicure._

_When I put down her 'plate' beside her, she glanced disgustedly at it and just continued painting her nails. As I sat down a few feet away, she opened her mouth for the first nightly complaint. "No white meat?" She quipped, in reference to the lack of good pieces of boar._

_I shook my head. "Nah, apparently Locke didn't catch a good one. This was all I could get us." I bit into a mango._

_Shannon sighed. She flicked the cap back on her polish, stretched out her legs, and picked up the food. "Oh well." She nibbled on the meat cautiously. I frowned at the possibility that Shannon still kept up with an eating disorder, even though she was a near-starved castaway._

_I dug into my own meal, starving after a long day of nearly drowning, exhausting humiliation courtesy of Jack, and a nap that drained me more than it revived me. I was finished with the entire meal in minutes._

_Shannon gawked at me. "Someone's a little, um... hungry?" She spoke slowly and snarkily, and then carefully bit into her mango._

_I just shook my head as I swallowed the last of my food. I swigged some water before explaining. "Long day."_

_Shannon nodded slightly, then looked down at her feet again. I couldn't tell if she was just examining her latest island beauty treatment or if she was, shockingly, deep in thought about something. Hmm._

_I broke the silence, finally. "Shannon, I'm just going to say it. Jack's got me doing task work indefinitely for him now and _you're _going to help me."_

_She sniggered, grinning evilly at me. "Oh really? Why the _hell_ should I?"_

_"Because I'm sick. Sick and tired of you just sitting around giving yourself makeovers and reading girly magazines while everyone else is trying to make it here. Sick of you letting everyone else take care of you. Sick and tired of you just hanging back and letting _me _take care of you while you translate some dumb maps with an Iraqi." My jealousy and over-protectiveness was kicking in, and Shannon noticed; she had tell-tale wide-eyes._

_"So. I'm not just going to leave you stranded here. I'm going to continue keeping you safe, _and _you're going to actually get things done around here. You'll be with me most of the time, so if you need an inhaler you'll have it. And I'll _try _to make this as fun as possible, but I don't think it could ever beat whatever's got you so hooked in those Cosmopolitans you find." I smirked at her, and she smiled a bit back._

_"I don't think I have a choice, and I'm honestly too high off of this smelly nail polish to disagree. I'll probably regret it later, but," she stuck out her hand, "Deal."_


	4. Chapter 4: Stiletto weaponry

Walt finally let go of my arm - thank gosh, he's strong for barely being a middle-schooler - and started wandering around on his own. I was tempted, thinking, _Good, just go by yourself and let me slip away now_. But I remembered my deal with Boone, to try to be "a good little girl" and "help people out", so I just rolled my eyes at the back of the kid's head and stumbled to catch up with him.

"So why does your dog run away so much, anyway? It's like, every week you're off yelling his name." I questioned, sounding bored and disinterested.

"Vincent." He mumbled at me, and I couldn't quite hear him.

"What?"

"Vincent's his name." Walt looked around through banyons and bushes as he kept along a certain path. He wasn't even looking, it seemed. He was just walking a straight line. Weird.

"And-?"

"Vincent doesn't run away from me. He just finds things out in the jungle."

What. I stopped in my tracks for a few moments to soak in what Walt just fed me. It sounded like a load of crazy-talk to me. I just blinked away my confusion for a while 'cause now Walt had to have been at least twenty feet away from me. _How does he move so fast?_

I ran to catch up with him. "What, he just..._finds_ things out in the _jungle_?" I shouted. "Doesn't he kinda...have to run away _first_ to do that?" I asked incredulously, displaying condescending doubt.

Walt didn't hear me, or just ignored me like the brat he was, 'cause he just ran off ahead again. "Wait, Walt...Can you just stop running for one second-"

Yeah, right, because he was _so _hearing what I was saying.

"-and tell me what the heck you mean by finding things out in the jungle?" I screeched, running and stumbling through twists and turns in the foliage, a set path Walt definitely was following. He had to be.

"He finds them by...-"

When I finally caught up to the little monster that made me run just about a mile in the completely wrong shoes, the least you could say was that I was... shocked. No, no, no... I was amazed and confused and shocked. That's more like it.

Because the kid had found his stupid dog. I mean, Vincent. He found Vincent.

He didn't even _look_. He just... I don't know what he did.

It's like he all of a sudden knew exactly _where_ to look, and had then went straight _there_.

I stood awkwardly in a patch of semi-dried mud, feeling my heels slowly sinking in. Walt was knelt beside his lab, hugging and petting it with an innocent smile on his face. _Ha. Ha. Innocent._ I was so shocked I was almost horrified, as if I was in some weirdo Twilight Zone situation. This kid pretty much tracked a dog. Things were like, backwards.

But I didn't have much time to sputter and gawk at the freaky child and dog, because soon I began to hear strange noises. Walt was having too happy a reunion with his mutt to notice, but there was something out there with us. And it was coming closer.

I spun around, turning towards the source of the noise slowly.

_The Others? The monster? Oh, hell. Of course, with my luck..._

I didn't think, I just grabbed Walt's arm in one hand and Vincent's newly-attached leash with the other and just took off for the direction of the beach camp. Now it was my turn to play in Walt's game of "follow the leader".

"What's going on? Why are we running?" Walt yelled at me, against the sound of the great gust we were all three creating as we ran through the trees.

"Firstly, a little _thanks_," I spat, "would be nice. Y'know, for finding your freaking dog and all." I gasped for breath, asthma threatening to take control now along with utter exhaustion. I knew what I said wasn't true, but I still deserved a thanks for being dragged into what kept growing more and more into a heavily sticky situation.

"And secondly, just _run_! Because I said so, or something!"

And we did. We all kept running, even Vincent. He wasn't as much of a dumb dog as I made him out to be, the moment we picked up the pace he was right alongside us. Good dog. I'd have to give him some extra food later or something for cooperating.

But it wasn't the right time to be celebrating. Not even because we were like _this _close to being back at the beach. Because from just about nowhere we were confronted head-on by a woman.

I gasped. And not just from an impending asthma/panic attack.

This woman had to be an Other. She was tall, menacing, and fit the bill for any sort of villainous person. Plus Boone had told me, from what he'd heard, that the people Jack, Sawyer and Locke had met looked pretty uncivilized, and she was dressed up in dirty, ripped clothing.

The woman also had a strange expression on her face. It wasn't just menacing, but ... creepy. I can't describe it any other way. And she was directing it right at Walt. It made my stomach ache and my head throb. I squeezed Walt's hand tightly, for his own safety and to release some of my own anxiety.

"Who the hell are you?" I snapped, yanking the kid behind me and all the while taking a few steps back.

She stepped forward, her face now sickly sweet-looking. "Shannon, just cooperate, please." She held out her hand, but not to me. She was aiming it behind me. At Walt.

"Come with me, Walt. And nothing will have to happen."

"BOONE!" I screamed so loudly I felt it in my chest and throat. I started sobbing as I redirected my gaze back at the woman. I glared at her, putting up my defenses despite my goosebumps.

Through now angry tears I choked out, looking behind me, "Don't listen to her, just stay with me, Walt."

"Please don't make things difficult, Shannon. Just let him come with me." She pushed a lock of blond hair behind her ear, giving me the sickly-sweet gaze she fixed Walt with moments ago.

Puh-lease. I don't fall for that. And like hell she was threatening me.

"BOOOOONE!" I screamed his name again. _Oh my gosh, will _ANYONE please _just come! _I didn't know what the hell I was doing. This woman was savage, hostile... I shouldn't have been acting the way I was with her, right?

Meh. I still did.

I removed one heel from my foot and shook it at her, the rather dangerous stiletto heel pointing precariously at her throat. "Who _are_ you, and what the f-"

Before I could swear, I heard a sudden clicking noise.

My heartbeat raced and my eyes widened into shock then relief. Sayid was standing behind her, handgun at the ready and targeted at her skull. She immediately threw her arms in the air, her bittersweet smile had washed away and was now an oddly angry-looking smile. For real. And today I still don't know how they do that, the Others. They can smile and look angry at the same time and it just works. I have to learn that sometime... Well anyway.

Moments later Boone ran onto the scene with an armed Jack close behind. The Other was officially outnumbered. "Guess we got you now, beeyotch." I said, and threw my shoe at her.

"Shannon-" Boone whined. But whatever. The woman was surrounded, it was daylight, and the look on her face told me she knew she'd lost and had given up.

Sort of given up - because the next thing I knew, that same shoe's heel bonked me square in the forehead with such force that I blacked out.


End file.
